Timeline and Document Record Sheet

Do you have ancestors with surnames that have about a billion spelling variations?  How about those family members whose birth year never seems to match from one source to the other?  Well, I have both, and I suspect that we all do!

I have been experimenting around with several different forms that I could use to help keep track of the surname spellings and the differing birth years.  I wanted one that was easy to use and easily read when filled in.  I also wanted one that could serve as a timeline of a person's life.

Here is the timeline I created today.  Take a look at it and if you would like to have it, just leave me a comment or send me an email with your email address and I'll send the file to you.  I created it on my Mac, but I am able to send it as a Microsoft document file.

On this form, I record only those events for which I have a document.  The only "assumptions" that I make are the calculated birth years such as those in census data.  This allows me to see at a glance the approximate birth year and helps to eliminate any person who just happens to have the same name and location of my ancestor.  I also record the information exactly as it is found on my source documents.

I do not see this form being used for each person I am researching, but for those who are difficult to track due to spellings of names, various ages, or birth years that are reported, I think this will be a huge help.  

I have the lines separated into decades so that the form can be used for any person no matter when he or she was born.  I might find that I need more dotted lines in the decade spaces, but those can easily be added.  

Here is the form filled out using my husband's 3-greats grandfather, Moses Dailey.  The Dailey family lived in Fleming and Bath Counties, Kentucky.  I have found their surname spelled about a half dozen different ways and the families seemed to use the same names for their children over and over again.  I also kept coming across discrepancies in their ages and birth years.  It was this branch of the family tree that showed me the need for something that I could use to help determine which Dailey I was working on.

As you can see, most of the sources I have for Moses, indicate his birth year between 1832 and 1834.  His death certificate states his birth year as 1829.  Before I used this form, I might have missed the fact that this date is probably not accurate even though it was his great - grandson, Lee Hay, who was the informant.  Also, without any birth record for people born in the early 1800's, how many times do we tend to, even though we know better, automatically use the death certificate as the birth source?  You can also see the various ways that Dailey, and even Moses, was spelled in the records.  This will help me not miss any records as I am searching the family due to spelling variations.  It also helps me see which facts I am missing for Moses.

There might be other timeline or record keeping forms available, but, for now,  I think this might serve my purpose.  If you think it might serve yours, just let me know.  I am happy to share!

John P. Parker, A Remarkable African American

It's February and that means Black History Month.  As a former elementary school teacher, I know that children all over the country are reading biographies and writing reports of all the famous African Americans that helped to form, improve, and influence our country and its people.  There will be numerous projects and posters featuring Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, and all the other well-known people.  But what about the not so well-known?  What about the others who were just as brave, just as influential, just as contributing, but never made it to national "celebrity" status?

Each February, my third graders were immersed in all stories and biographies of the well-known "famous" people, but they also were introduced to a not so well-known African American, John Parker, through Doreen Rappaport's book Freedom River.  The book tells of one particularly dangerous trip that John, a passionate abolitionist, made to Kentucky to help bring a slave family one step closer to their freedom.  My South Carolina students discovered a new hero from a small town on the Ohio River who showed them the importance of standing up for what you believe in.

I have always felt a connection with this Virginia born man who lived in the 1800's.  I am sure that some of my Ripley and Brown County, Ohio area ancestors such as the Montgomery's, Gates's, and Guy's must have known, and probably did business with John Parker.  John was a former slave who bought his freedom and eventually settled in Ripley, Ohio where he owned and operated the Phoenix Foundry and Machine Company.  Today, his home is a museum dedicated to teaching others about his remarkable life.  

Greg Haitz, president of the John P. Parker Historical Society in Ripley, sent me this link to the blog post Parker Was a Daring Slave Rescuer, on Cincinnati.com, written by Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Steve Kemme.  In his post, Kemme tells the story of this remarkable man.  If you are interested in discovering one of the lesser-known African Americans, you will find John Parker's story fascinating.  He truly deserves to be in the ranks of those like Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and all the others that we so often hear about.  He deserves to be the subject of Black History Month projects of children all over this country.